Girl and Boys (#Wattys2015 Winner - New Adult Romance)

Chapter 2

'So what the hell are you doing here, anyway?' He asked this question with the enthusiasm and familiarity of someone who'd just seen an old friend. I, however, would not describe myself as a friend of his in any way, shape or form, and I certainly didn't want him to think we were on good terms. My goal for the next five or so minutes was to come across as cool, ambivalent and sexy. More likely, I would just come across as unfriendly and slightly weird, but I would settle for that over letting him think I was still upset about the coming out incident after all these years.

'Oh, you know, just trying out a new city.' I flipped my hair over my shoulder in an attempt to look breezy and casual. 'I've been here for about three months.'

'Six years for me,' he said. 'I'm a journalist. I mean, I'm working as a news editor.'

'Wow, that's great Scott!' I was impressed. 'Great Scott, get it?'

'Yeah, that's original,' he laughed.

Bugger. I'd tried to be cool for roughly five seconds, but my urge to make dad jokes was an unstoppable force.

'What brings you to a seedy bar like this?' asked Scott.

'Cheap drinks and a dance floor. What more could you ask for?'

'True, true. I'm just here for my friend's hen's night, obviously. I'm the token gay,' he joked. He held up both his hands, laughed and wiggled his fingers.

'Yeah, I was wondering why you weren't out clubbing in Vauxhall right now.'

'How do you know about Vauxhall?' he teased, tapping my arm.

Little did Scott Smith know that after I'd awkwardly wiggled back into my boobtube, put my shrug back on and left his bedroom that autumn night almost a decade ago, I'd somehow become one of those women that seemed to attract gay men as friends like a shiny magnet. I'd deduced that it must have something to do with pheromones one morning at three o'clock in front of four empty wine bottles and one of my best friends Lachlan. 

Lachlan had his own theory - that I was a gay man in a woman's body. I was pretty sure that was incorrect because I quite liked my woman's body. At least half a dozen of my gay male friends had told me to check out the Vauxhall nightlife when I landed in London. However, the fact that I had no actual gay male friends in London to accompany me to Vauxhall took away its appeal. I also had Dee here keeping me busy, dragging me to bars full of men in suits droning on about the stock market or the house they were going to buy.

'I've just heard about it around the place, that's all,' I said.

'Well, it's too early for Vauxhall, love.'

I slowly blinked at him. Had he just called me love? Irrationally, the word enraged me. I wasn't just another casual acquaintance he could use that word on for some small talk. He had touched my boob and broken my heart. Yes, it had been a million years ago, but it had happened. I wondered if he remembered what my boobs looked like.

He must have sensed my anger because his smile disappeared and he cleared his throat.

'So what do you do for work now? I remember you wanted to do a Bachelor of Arts, yeah?' he asked.

Just like that, my anger dissipated as quickly as a tequila shot. He remembered something - something actually important.

'Yes, that's right,' I replied brightly. He looked relieved to have steered the conversation so swiftly into safe territory. 'I've got a PhD now, so it's Dr. Beth to you, thank you very much. I'm here to find work as an editor, copywriter, anything like that, really. I mean, I could look into working at a university, but I'm not ready to go back to a uni just yet.' I exhaled. I was babbling and Scott was doing the whole polite nodding thing.